Ioe, pisi le vaiaso

Later today we'll be traveling to American Samoa and I figured I'd get in touch with the other side of the world before we leave. I'll be in the capital of Pago Pago for three nights, Tuesday to Friday for me, Monday to Thursday for all of you in that time zone. In American Samoa, I'll be living with another family, set up through the Community College of American Samoa. It's bound to be interesting -- American Samoa is a US territory (obviously) and, from what I've heard, has retained a lot of Samoan culture, but has picked up some of the worst of American culture. But, for a few days, I'll be on the same day as all of you; we leave Tuesday March 26 at 2:30 in Samoa...arrive Monday March 25 at 2:00 in American Samoa. It's weird that I'm getting more used to this time travel thing.

This past week was incredibly busy--pisi le vaiaso--as we started our work for our Independent Study Projects. I'll be looking at cultural perceptions of pregnancy again. After interviewing a few women, I was reminded why I love this topic so much. Watching women's faces as they explain and laugh with their experiences is a beautiful thing. I'm collecting quite a few narratives, and quite a few beliefs associated with pregnant women. For example, she should never drink niu (coconut water) from a coconut that has been cut with a big hole lest her baby be born with a huge mouth. And don't tie your lavalava above your breasts because you wouldn't want the baby to be born without arms!

I'll update more on my return from your time zone.

Tele alofa!